The Patapon have marched back onto PSP and this time they've got a brand new beat to keep the rhythm to: the Hero Patapon. Picking up where Patapon 2 on PSP left off, the brave Patapon tribe has now crossed the Rainbow Bridge and found a mysterious chest.

Unable to resist temptation, the Patapons break open the forbidden seal. Unfortunately, the seven evil spirits that lurk inside the chest turn the army of Patapon soldiers to stone in a flash.

Luckily, the flag carrier, Hatapon, escapes and manages to find a Silver Hoshipon at the bottom of the chest, who grants him the power to defeat the dastardly spirits. That power is you: the Hero Patapon.

The Hero Patapon

At the outset of Patapon 3 on PSP you can pick from one of three basic classes of Hero Patapons. The first is Yarida, a warrior equipped with a spear. When using him in battle you're going to have to take risks by getting in close to your opponents. The upside to playing as him is that his spear can inflict a sizeable amount of damage.

If you prefer some bow and arrow action, choose Yumiyacha, the bow Hero. He is ideal for volleying arrows at enemies, offering plenty of support in battle. Yumiyacha does have very little stamina, so you'll have to be careful how you use him in play.

The final Hero Patapon is Taterazay, whose power is that of a shield. Be sure to play as Taterazay if you want a Patapon on the front line covering the rest of your troops during some of the game's more intense rhythmic battles.

Marching on

Patapon 3 on PSP builds on the first two games by tasking you with controlling a Hero Patapon and a squad of three other Patapon soldiers, rather than an entire army of characters. The goal in the game is simple: guide your parties through each of the treacherous levels by using various combinations of four beat rhythms.

Each of the four drum beats (PATA, PON, DON and CHAKA) are represented by the Square, Circle, X and Triangle buttons respectively. For example, if you want to bang the PON drum, just press the Circle button in time with the rhythm of the Earth, which is represented by the flashing border around the screen of your PSP.

To help you along as you play through the game, all four drum beats are laid out at the bottom of the screen. Once you have memorised each button press, you're ready to start combining them to perform attacks, blocks and advances in order to reach the end of the level.

Keep the rhythm with your friends

Patapon 3 on PSP features co-operative and competitive quests for you and up to seven of your friends to bang your drum to.

Once you have chosen whether or not you want to play the game's Wireless Ad Hoc Mode or Wireless Infrastructure Mode via PlayStation Network, you can then team up with your friends and play through plenty of the levels featured in the single player mode.

In co-operative mode, you control a Hero Patapon and help each other through the campaign mode. There are much harder quests that are only available in co-operative mode and the only way to complete these missions is by joining forces with your friends.

In competitive multiplayer mode there are three different battles to choose from including Head-On, Dead-Heat, and Missile Battle.